Scott Dunlap's blog of trail running, ultrarunning, triathlon, and other life adventures. I enjoy the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of outdoor events and the chance to meet cool people. This blog contains interviews, research, original fiction, new product ideas, and all things trail running.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Ultra Adventure (Florida Sports Magazine)

In an ultramarathon, you won’t have to worry about the old training adage that “speed kills.” Depending on the distance you’re running, it’s very likely that your pace might never hit single-minute digits. Instead, you’ll probably be more concerned with your nutrition strategy, foot-care issues (such as blisters) or making sure that you’re maintaining a pace sufficient enough to stay ahead of any time cutoffs imposed by race directors.

Like the 10K of years gone by, most ultramarathons have a casual, extremely welcoming vibe where beginners and veterans alike feel right at home. Due to the small size of the starting fields, the races have become large social gatherings. If you run ultras frequently, you can’t help but see a familiar face at your next race.

I completely agree. One of my favorite things about ultras is seeing all the familiar faces. And I certainly worry more about food/hydration than splits!

On a side note, my thanks to Stan Jensen of Run100s.com (also the owner of the coolest ultra license plate ever) for adding my race write-ups to his page of race reports. If you haven't been to this page, it's a great place to learn about courses before you go (for example, there are 7 write-ups each for the American River 50 and Miwok 100k, and over a dozen for Western States).

To all you running the American River 50 tomorrow, good luck and godspeed. I'll be in Boston on Monday, braving what appears to be a cold and damp race. But the hot tub afterwards will feel all the better!

Thanks! I got some good pics at Boston, and will post later this week. It was a wet and cold one, although not nearly as bad as it could have been with the crazy weather leading up to it.

I did like last year and slowed to enjoy the race (complete with kisses from the Wellesley girls this time). I would have gone even slower, but we had to stay warm! The locals and volunteers were great, and came out despite the 30 mph winds. It's an amazing community here.

About Me

I'm a technology entrepreneur who took up trail running and triathloning back in 2001 to get off the work treadmill and see a bit more of the outdoors. I also love to eat, so the exercise helps me justify those extra helpings. ;oP I'm always interested in learning more about trail running - please comment and link away!

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